Remembrances

Newgrange Winter Solstice Photograph by Cyril Byrne - The Irish Times In 2007, I traveled to Scotland and Ireland to see the megalithic stone circle at  Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, and the Karrowkeel and Newgrange passage tombs in Ireland. I couldn’t have imagined the powerful emotional, spiritual and kinesthetic experience of being in these ancient sacred places. Newgrange was especially powerful for me. Walking down the narrow entrance passageway, where some of the stones are close enough to rub your shoulders, you come to a cross-shaped chamber with a marvelous corbel vault ceiling. There are three niches, with incised stones and large stone basins on the floor. A guide arranges the visitors along the walls so that the path to the back wall of the chamber is clear. He extinguishes the artificial lights, plunging the chamber into utter darkness and silence. Then, he turns on a single 40 watt bulb whose beam is directed at the back wall, simulating the winter s...